JPS, John Steele???

Hi David,

To my knowledge John is still in the replica business.  Like most manufacturers, he has an avid group of supportive owners who participate on this forum.  I'm sure some will chime in. 

Someone just took delivery here.

Here it is, Ron's new ride

https://www.speedsterowners.com...ew-baby-just-arrived

Just passed 1000 miles on my 6 month old JPS/Subie!

Pick up the phone and call John.  He is very reachable.  Find his number under "Makers" at the top of this page.

I'm sure my situation is not the norm...but I gave a deposit April 1, 2014 for a 4 month build...and I STILL have not received my car...its going on a year now.

Why is it taking so long?? ...who the F**K knows. He received 90% of funds the first 90 days. Keeps blaming it on the air suspension.

I'm not trying to ridicule JPS or deter anyone from having him build you a car...just voicing my personal experience...so far.

Brandon,  What you are saying does sound a little odd.  One thing JPS has been noted for in the past is that he can complete a build in a few months, and usually does, so far as I know.  John can be a little hard to pin down on some things.  He will say one thing and do another, at times.  Not everything he says is founded in fact.  He does tend to tell you what he thinks you want to hear.  That said, I have always found him to be responsive, good or bad.  You should pester him, via phone or e-mail or both.  Something must be going on here, and he ought to be up-front w/ you about what it is.

90% of funds in the first 90 days?  That seems a little much.

Another maker I know takes 20% as down payment, 20% when construction starts, and the balance of 60% when the car is delivered.

Sorry you had to pay so much so soon, and you still don't have a car.

I spoke with John yesterday. He said he delivered 3 cars this week (with the third being a coupe, delivered/picked up today.)

I'm waiting on a horn button that I ordered a week or so ago. He forgot to send it due to how busy he was this week. 

I'd give him a call,
Ted

To all prospective buyers:

This is 100% true, and always has been. I had this experience, and so have many other buyers.

If you are OK with this, by all means proceed. If not, you may want to look elsewhere.

Brandon,

Maybe one of our California knuckleheads could stop by and do a status check on your car. 

Thank you for the suggestion.... I may take someone up on that offer if needed, but he has "guaranteed" me it will be done within the next 2 weeks. We shall see.

And yes, I have been calling and pestering him....even when I have to call from a different phone or press *67 so the caller ID is blocked and he will answer the phone.

I agree....which is part of my frustration.

I truly believe the air suspension I requested is part of the problem. To give some insight I want the Accuair e-level component with the system and went with 17x7 wheels. I'm going for an outlaw type look. So here are some problems he said he has run into:

• initially went IRS suspension, then realized he had to change to swing arm to make everything fit
• its turned into a "figure it out as I go" as far as where and how to mount the brackets, etc. for the air suspension
• certain components of air suspension are not working well together electronically

Some or all of these may very well be true, BUT:

1. dont accept a job and promise a 4 month delivery if you are not certain you can deliver.
2. dont say its "no problem" to add air suspension and then later tell me you've never done one before.
3. dont tell me it will be done in 4 weeks, 6 months in a row!

It doesn't take 8 additional months to get an air suspension installed and working correctly. So yes, I agree something must be going on.

Sorry for the rant.

Several of the folks on this site has installed air suspensions.  If nothing else they should be able to help you with any sorting problems that may crop up.

Popcorn while we watch this one?

I hope he comes through for you and doesn't cut any corners to make the deadline. Interesting to know how long the customers for the  three cars he delivered last week waited for their cars, and what was promised.

Truly hope this works out fot you.

Thank you!

WTF is an air suspension??  That's a new one on me.

Brandon, sounds like you have asked for a tricked-out build, so maybe some issues cropped up.  John never likes to say anything negative, even if doing so would actually be better for everyone.  Personally, I just like the truth, and then I can deal with it.

Lol...

17 x 7s under a Speedster? Assume that bad boy's gonna have some wide-ass flares, swing-arm or not. 

I can see how a builder would run into issues. I bet Zagar could even name them all by part number and hours-to-fix. 

Good luck to you, Brandon.

.........and so it sadly goes on. Hope one of the more informed guys drops by and updates you in real time ~

Air suspension: Isn't this what the boyz in the "Hood" do?  Give their low-riders some hip-hop??  Jack up the bazookas in the back and let the car dance to the music??  Anyway, doing this on a Speedster is a new concept to me, but not to everyone, so it seems.  A complete system, from what little I know, is that if you want to raise and lower the suspension to allow one sort of handling characteristic or another, then you would have to alter the shocks (damping rates) also.  And maybe do something with the spring rates too -?-  Sounds complicated -- and expensive.  Does sound cool though.  My car is set up for flat turns and is sorta stiff thereby.  At times I have wished I could soften things up (like for city driving on poor roads, w/ pot holes, etc.).  Since you can't have it both ways at the same time, an active system like this must be the way to do it.  I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

Kelly,

Paul (Mango Smoothie) has a full air suspension on his speedster.

It's pretty cool.

I certainly hope you get your car soon!  Hey watching that air ride video of the Audi…... my 1964 Citroen DS Cabriolet does this too, but with hydraulics.  Driving is like floating on air & the ride height is adjustable……..you can even change a tire w/o a jack!

fun to play with too

Roger that -- cool stuff.  And looks like Mango is, in fact, from the 'hood . . .

werd

sh*t, mf, that's wurd.

Ya, but can he make the front end bounce?

hate to front on a tech homey,

^ Bwaaaaa Haaaaaaa!

Busted!

Mango:  OK, that did it. LOL (really) and and I woulda spit my coffee on my monitor had I been having any.  Where do you get this sh**??!

Any of you guys crochet?

Yes, and  I always do it out the back of my panel van --?????

So, Brandon, how close are you to getting your car? 

This is a general problem with the smaller builders. They play it like a Ponzi Scheme. They use your deposit to complete their next "build" in the production line, then hope the can get a deposit and some cash to push the next one through. Your build is a few months down the line. I had a three month commitment from Thunder Ranch in the early 2000's. The build took 15 months. The Speedster was beautiful when I picked it up, but it was a mechanical and electrical system disaster.